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MrShineyhead's Travels:
Deaf Dog in the Park | State Fair | MrWildWildWest | Gone Fishin' | The Pirate | Me Here!
Tales in The Dark:
The Mountain Lion | Ice Lake | Civil War | Lorelei | The Goblins
With a special ASL translation of:
The Star-Spangled Banner
Civil War
There once was a railroad trestle, located high above a wandering river. A board was laid across the trestle with one end of the board being secured by the weight of a solider, and the other end of the board sticking out beyond the railing of the trestle, overhanging the water far below.
One day, a group of prisoners were led to the trestle. They were accompanied by a unit of soldiers who fired off a volley of shots in unison before the general approached the first prisoner in the group.
The soldier mocked the prisoner by touching the brim of the prisoner’s hat and then flipping it callously to the ground. The general then gestured to one of his soldiers to bring him the heavy noose made from sturdy rope. The general placed the noose around the prisoner’s neck and tightened the knot securely.
As the prisoner contemplated his sure fate he began to sweat, and the sweat dripped down his face and fell into little pools on the ground. The horns sounded the call, and the soldier standing on the end of the board preventing the prisoner from falling stepped off the board, and the prisoner began to fall.
Certain of his impending death, the prisoner braced himself for the impact of the noose snapping his neck, but instead, at the last second, the rope snapped, and the prisoner fell free to the river below.
Quickly, the prisoner broke the surface, took a deep breath, and submerged himself again. He then removed the noose from around his neck and began to swim as fast as he could.
The horns once again sounded the call, and the remaining soldiers on the trestle began shooting at the escaping prisoner swimming in the river below. As the prisoner swam, he dodged bullets slicing in front of and behind him in the water. He surfaced for air as little as possible to avoid getting shot.
Finally, the prisoner reached an area of the river that had some reedy plants. He broke off one of the reeds and used it as a crude snorkel so he could breathe without surfacing and revealing his position to the firing soldiers.
Soon the soldiers gave up their quest to shoot the escapee, and left the trestle.
Hearing the soldiers retreat, the escaped prisoner climbed onto the shore and began to walk through the trees, narrowly missing the soldiers marching back to their base. The prisoner hid behind a tree, waiting for the soldiers to pass.
As the general, on horseback, led his marching soldiers away, the prisoner ran through the trees, periodically stopping to hide and waiting for the soldiers to pass. Soon, the prisoner was out of immediate danger and ran as fast as he could through the forest, his heart beating hard in his chest.
Finally, after running hard for a while, he reached the front yard of his house. His sweat dripped down and fell into little pools on the ground as he stood in the front yard.
The beautiful plantation house he stood before was large and sported amazing columns across the front of it. There were verandas on the second floor, each with double doors leading out to them. The front door was large and was also a double door and as it opened, there stood a beautiful woman with long flowing hair. Her large civil-war era dress bounced as she ran toward him holding her parasol.
He ran toward her with great excitement. As the two neared each other, the woman threw aside her parasol and grabbed her skirts so she could run faster. They both now ran to each other as fast as they could. Just as they reached one another, and started to embrace, their lips moved ever so close and as they were about to kiss……
SNAP
The prisoner hung swinging from the trestle, hanged.
The horn sounded the call, and four shots rang out.
The general saluted and the soldiers retreated.
There hung the prisoner – dead.
Translation done by: Tammera J. Richards, BS, CI & CT; SC:L; NAD IV |
